Type-bar mechanism



March 1 1927.

A. N. WOODRUFF TYPE BARMBGHANISM Filed May 11, 19 26 a 'isfflatthroughout as plainly to be seen in Patented Mar. 1, 1927.

lanai ALBERT N. WOODBUFF, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

TYPE-BAR MECHANISM.

Application filed May 11,

My present invention relates generally to typewriters and moreparticularly to type bar mechanisms or actions of the general typedescribed and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 91,511,which was filed March 1, 1926, and which includes a mechanism in whichthe type bar is pivotally supported at one end and provided with teethforming a gear surface adjacent to said pivot, a sub-lever beingpivotally mounted at one end and having an angularly' disposed gearsurface at its opposite end engaging the .gear surface of the typebarand the sub-lever in turn having a portion adjacent to its pivotedend engaged in movable relation by a part of the key lever inwardly orrearwardly beyond the intermediate fulcrum of the latter. According tothis construction the sub-lever was arranged in an approximately uprightposition and the initial strain at the start of movement of the partsnecessarily resolved itself upon the gear teeth connecting the sub-leverwith the key lever. v.

A primary object of my present arrange ment is to rearrange the parts insuch manner as to reduce to a material extent the vertical dimensionnecessary for their support and operation, and a further object is to'relieve the connecting gear teeth of the type bar and sub-lever of allstrain at the start of operation.

A still further object of my present arrangement and construction is toobtain additional benefits in so far as simplicity, strength anddurability are concerned and at the same time retain all of theoperating advantages of my formerconstruction above outlined.

In the accompanying drawing which ll lustrates my present invention andforms a part of this specification y- Figure 1 is a verticallongitudinal section illustrating my invention, and,

Figure 2 isa detail perspective View of the type bar sub-lever and keylever removed and in their normal relation.

Referring now to these figures, my invention proposes a type bar actionincluding a type bar 10, which may have adjacent to its free end aseries of lengthwise spaced type members 11, and which has adjacent tots plpositeend a pivot openin 12, and a latery enlarged portion 13. hetype bar 10 2, and its opening'g12 at its inner or 1926. Serial No.108,308.

rear end adapts the same to pivotal mounting upon a type bar supportingrod 14. Alongthe lower face of its laterally en-- larged portion 13, thetype bar has gear teeth 15 which form a geared surface 606cm .tric withrespect to the pivot opening 12, and it will be noted in Figs. 1 and 2,that in the normal position of the parts the type b 10 extends forwardlyfrom the supporting rod '14 in an approximately horizontal position withits free or type carrying end resting for instance-upon a. type bar restpad 16.

Below the free or type carrying end of the type bar 10"and rearwardly ofthe type bar rest pad 16",the sub-lever 17 is pivoted at its ,forwardend upon a supporting cross rod or bar 18. This sub-lever 17 in accordance with my'present invention normally extends rearwardly in asubstantially horizontal position beneath the type bar 10, and has itssubstantially widened rear end pro.- vided with a curved gear surface 19for engagement with the gear surface 15 of the type bar, it being notedthat the upper edge of the inner end of the sub-1ever 17 rests in thenormal position of the parts against the lower surface'of the type bar10, whereby upon initial upward pressure against the sub-lever 17 thelatter directly engages the type bar so as to elevate the latter withoutstrain upon the intermeshing gear teeth 15 and 19.

Upon its lower edge and intermediate its ends the sub-lever 17 has arounded projecntion 20, which is engaged as shown by the upper flatsurface 21, at the inner or rear,

end of the key lever 22, which is fulcrumed intermediate its ends upon asupporting cross bar or rod 23, and which is provided at its forward endwith a finger piece or key .24.

Thus when the key 24 or finger piece of the key lever 22 is initiallydepressed, the forward portion of the key lever will be moveddownwardly, and that portion there of rearwardly of its fulcrum 23 willbe shifted upwardly so that the upwardly presented flat surface 21 atits inner end will, by virtue of its engagement with the roundedpro'ection 20 of the sub-lever 17, shift this su -leve'r upwardly uponits pivot 18, causing the type bar 10 to swing upwardly andrarwardly onits pivot 12.

It is to be noted that during this movement the surface 21 slidesrelativeate the prcijee tion 20, and thus the point of engagementbetween the key lever 22 and the sub-lever 17 constantly shifts in adirection toward the pivot 18 of the sub-lever. Also in view of 5 theeccentricity of the geared surface of the type bar 10 with respect toits pivot 14 it is obvious that during the swinging movement of the typebar the pointof engagement between the type bar and the sub-lovermovement, during which little, if any, power is required;

After action, the parts are returned to their normal position uponrelease of the key lever 22 by virtue of a spring 25, one end of whichis anchored in any suitable manner within the frame 26 of a typewritingmachine, and the other end of which may be attached in any suitablemanner to the sublever 17 v V I have in the present instance shown atype bar 10, provided with type at lengthwise spaced points adjacent toits free end as at 11, and while it is to be understoodthat thisarrangement is intended 'to operate in practice in connection with aplaten 27 'shiftable between. the full and dotted line positions of Fig.1, to permit of proper engagement of the several type, this movableplaten and the means for moving the same i dorm no part of my presentinvention and will be included in a separate application.

I claim: 1. In a typewriter, a type bar pivotally supported adjacent toone end and tonerg mally extend forwardly in a substantially horizontalposition and having at its rear pivoted end a lateral enlargementprovided with lower teeth. forming a curved gear surface along a lineeccentric with respect to its pivot,.asub-levcr pivotally mounted at itsforward'end and normally extending "in a pivoted end of the latter, saidrear end of, the sub-lever having a curved gear surfacev cooperatingwith the'gear surface of the type bar, and said sub-lever having a lowerrounded pro ection intermediate its ends and a key lever fulcrumedintermediate its ends and having its inner end provided with an upwardlyfacing on aging surface 1n contact with the roundeprojection of thesublever, as described.

2. I posed type bar pivotally supported adjacent to one end and havingan eccentric gear surface adjacent to its pivot, a sub-lever pivotallysupported at its forward end horizontally below and in engagement withthe type bar and havin a gear surface at its rear end engaging t isgeared surface of the type bar, and a key lever fulcrumed intermediateitsends below and forwardly of the sub-lever and having its rear end inengagement with the lower surface of the sub-lever and shiftable in itseffective movement toward the pivot of the said lever.

3. In a typewriter, a type bar, sub-lever and key lever all normallydisposed in horizontal positions, the key lever havin a portion engagingthe sub-lever, and shiftable in the elfective movement of the partstoward the'pivot of the sub-lever, and the sub-lever and the type barhaving intermeshin'g teeth arranged to shift the engaging point. of thesub-lever toward the pivot of the type bar during effective movement ofthe parts.

4. In a typewriter, a type bar, subvlever and key lever all normallydisposedin horizontal positions, the type bar and sub-lever beingpivotally supported in superposed relation and at relatively oppositeends, said sub-lever normally engaging the type bar at a pointintermediate the ends of the latter, and said sub-lever and said typebar having intermesh'ing gear teeth, the teeth of the type bar beingdisposed eccentric to the pivot thereof and the key lever beingfulcrumed intermediat its ends and having its inner end in slidingcontact with the sublever and shiftablo in the effective movement of theparts toward thepivot of the said lever. I O

ALBERT N. WOODRUFF.

n a typewriter, a horizontally dis

